Stephen Smith’s body exhumed for independent autopsy

HAMPTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – The body of Stephen Smith, who was found dead along a rural Hampton County road in 2015, has been exhumed.

Attorneys for the family said Smith’s body was exhumed Friday ahead of an independent autopsy.

Smith’s death was originally ruled a hit and run, but the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) recently announced that the death is being investigated as a homicide.

According to Highway Patrol troopers who responded to the scene, Smith’s injuries were not consistent with a hit and run.

Smith’s mother, Sandy Smith, said that she never believed her son was killed in a hit and run.

She raised over $65,000 via GoFundMe to cover the cost of the exhumation and independent autopsy in hopes of getting answers regarding her son’s true cause of death.

Attorneys for the Smith family did not say when the autopsy would be conducted.

Editor’s note: This story is breaking and may be updated.